Are you really saying that a bookstore (or clothing store) in the US has no say in how much they charge for a book or an item of clothing? That's not how I thought the free market works,
Welcome to corporate America. If it's a chain store, it receives the item in bulk and is told what price to sell it for. There is very little room for variation. Price setting is generally done by regional managers rather than by the managers of individual stores, who, by the way, are given lengthy instructions on how to deal with every situation and would be fired if they deviated from them.
You couldn't buy stationery at a mall bookstore (they would advertise marital aids on yellow pages though)
Generally a bookstore means what it says, it sells books. Print shops are considered a separate entity.
You could buy stationery, items of personal hygiene and candy at a pharmacy (aka a drug store)
I've always thought having food, drinks, etc. at pharmacies was weird, but I thought it was normal to have hygiene stuff there.
These people actually use bank cheques for paying utility bills and for shopping? Is this like the 70s or something?
I do most transactions through debit/credit card, but that's not always a possibility, especially if paying rent or at a lot of local shops. I loathe carrying around large amounts of money, it makes me nervous.
Why would anyone want to use a credit card? Why run up a debt? Can't you like afford to pay for it right away?
Two reasons. First is that people are tricked by too-good-to-be-true "free" cards and low rates, but fail to consider hidden fees. Second is because credit is king. If you don't build up and maintain good credit, you may find yourself unable to buy a car or home, or take out any sort of loan. I use my credit card for things I know I can pay for so that I can establish good credit.
Maryland has a week every August when they don't charge sales tax on any clothing item under $100 to encourage people to do school shopping. Otherwise it's 6% on most things except groceries.
North Carolina had this, but "low-tax" McCrory has gotten rid of it and raised the sales tax as part of an overall scheme to collect most of the states sales revenue through sales, rather than income, tax. What this actually amounts to is a regressive tax on the poor for their basic goods and services.